Rebecca Atkins: Attorney At Love (Lonely Cowboy Series)

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “Ma, I don’t have time to waste if I’m going to have a happily ever after like you and Pa have. And, don’t forget, you told him to leave.”

  “Times were different then. There weren’t a lot of women around. I could pick and choose. Besides, I knew what he needed even if he didn’t.”

  “You’re terrible.”

  “Just don’t burn your bridges, Becky.”

  “I’m not, Ma. I’ve decided if things don’t work out, I’m coming back here to work.”

  “Now, you’ve caused me to have mixed emotions. I don’t know what to hope for.”

  “You are terrible, Ma.”

  “No, I just know my daughter well enough to know she will make the right decision.”

  “Thanks, Ma. I’m going to take Bandit for a walk.”

  “Be careful where you put your foot. We’ve seen a few rattlers lately. It’s cooled off enough so they’re more active in the daytime.”

  It was just after ten in the morning when the telephone rang. Sarah answered.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Atkins. This is Charles. How are you this morning?”

  “I’m fine, Charles. How are things in Atlanta?”

  “Lonely. I’m back in Washington. I miss Rebecca and we didn’t part on the best of terms.”

  “She told me she wasn’t very happy with you right now. She seems to be enjoying her visit with us. We have her tied to the bedpost and we are not letting her go back to Washington.”

  “Mrs. Atkins, would you tie me to the same post?”

  “I’d be glad to if that’s what you want. I guess you want to talk to her?”

  “In a minute. I have to ask you a question and I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention it to her. Would it be okay if I came out there and then went back to Washington with her when she goes?”

  “I’m sure she would love that, Charles, and we certainly have plenty of room here. I have an idea how we could surprise her. I told her we were going to have a party while she’s here. Instead of coming into San Antonio, plan to change trains and come to Cimmaron, and I’ll tell her we have to get some things in town and I need for her to help me pick them out. I can’t think of a good reason to give her for going to San Antonio.”

  “That’s wonderful. She’ll never expect this and she’ll never forgive me for it.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get back to you. You’ve got a devious mind, Mrs. Atkins.”

  “She said almost the same thing last night. She’s going to spend the night at her brother Josh’s tonight and will be back sometime tomorrow afternoon. If you can call me tomorrow morning and let me know, we’ll have our little secret.”

  “Great. Could I speak with her please.”

  “I’ll get her. Hold on. Pause… “Becky, you have a long distance call. Becky…”

  “Okay Ma, I’m coming. Is it Mr. Rawson?”

  “No, it’s from Atlanta.”

  “Be right there, Ma. Thanks…”

  CHAPTER 13: A SURPRISE FOR REBECCA

  At dinner, Sarah said,“Becky, I’d like for you to go with me to Cimmaron and help me pick out some things for the party tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure Ma, I’ll be glad to. What time would you like to leave?” asked Rebecca.

  “I’d like to leave around nine. That would give us plenty of time for shopping and such.”

  The next morning, Sarah, Trace, and Becky set out for Cimmaron. Trace had been told about the surprise for Becky. He was grumbling he didn’t think it was necessary to go into Cimmaron. They had everything on the Bar S they needed.

  “Oh hush, Trace. While we shop, you can go talk to the preacher, if he’s still speaking to you. We haven’t been to church in a month,” said Sarah, in the loving voice she always used with her husband of over thirty years.

  Becky just smiled. It was obvious to everyone just how much her Pa loved her Ma and vice versa

  When they arrived in Cimmaron, Trace went with them to the general store. While they were in the store, they heard a train whistle. Trace said, “Becky, I want to show you our new train.”

  “Oh, Pa, I spent three days on the train. I’ve seen enough to last me until I have to go back.”

  “Humor me, Becky. Now come on. The three of them walked over to the depot, where the train had pulled in and stopped. Just as they got there, the conductor came down the single step on the car and placed a set of two steps at the foot, eliminating the long step that would have been necessary otherwise.

  Two passengers came down the steps. The third was Charles. Smiling, he came toward them. Becky was startled. “Charles, I didn’t know you were coming. I thought you were in Atlanta.”

  “I was, then I said to myself, ‘Self, why don’t you just pop over to see Mr. And Mrs. Atkins?’ And I said, I believe I will,” said Charles.

  “Yes, I just bet you did. You set this up with Ma didn’t you?” She stepped into his arms, and hugged him. He lowered his head and kissed her full on the lips right there in front of everyone.

  Sarah was smiling. “I would say we surprised her wouldn’t you, honey?”

  “I believe we did,” Trace replied. “Becky darlin, why don’t you and Charles collect his baggage and we’ll head on back to the Bar S. We have what we came for, don’t we Sarah?”

  “I believe we do,” replied Sarah.

  Rebecca and Charles walked hand in hand to the baggage car where the porters were unloading the baggage. “I’m really glad to see you Charles. You look as if you’re feeling better than you were before you went to Atlanta.”

  “I am. After the talk we had and the way we left it, I was pretty miserable. After a few days, there was only one thing on my mind and that was you. I didn’t realize you could miss a person as much as I was missing you,” said Charles.

  “I missed you too… a little bit,” said Rebecca. “Well, maybe more than a little bit.”

  As the two walked off, Sarah said to her husband, “I believe our Becky has found herself a feller.”

  Trace answered, “Hmmph, he just remembers what I told him.”

  “What did you tell him?” asked Sarah.

  In a quiet voice, Trace said, “I told him if he hurt my Becky, I’d purely kill him.”

  Shocked, Sarah said, “Trace! Rebecca told me he was afraid of you, now I see why.”

  “What, Ma?” asked Sarah.

  “Oh nothing dear, your pa was just telling me one of his tales.”

  “Hmmph,” said Trace.

  Charles tipped a porter to get his luggage to the Atkins’ carriage. The luggage was placed in the rear, while Rebecca and Charles sat in the back seat with Sara and Trace on the front. It was a nice day, not too warm so they left the leather top back and the two horses moved off at a brisk trot.

  “How far is it?” Charles asked.

  Rebecca answered, “We’ve been on our property since a few minutes after we left Cimmaron. How far to home Pa?”

  “About an hour or so,” replied Trace.

  In the back, Charles and Rebecca were sitting as close to each other as possible. Charles leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Sarah happened to glance over her shoulder over in time to see them. She smiled at Rebecca and received one in return.

  As they rode along, Charles said, “I always thought Texas was flat. There are quite a few hills.”

  “We’re not too far from the Davis Mountains,” Rebecca said. “There are some peaks as high as anything in the east.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope, not at all.”

  “Are those your cattle out there, Mr. Atkins?” Charles asked.

  “Yes they are,” came back from the front seat.

  “Aren’t you afraid they’ll wander off?” asked Charles.

  “They’ll wander a bit, but they’re branded. We round them up in the spring and fall. We’ll lose a few, but not that many, answered Trace.

  They arrived at the Bar S ranch house riding down the tree lined road that led to the main
house. Trace handed the reins to a ranch hand that came from the barn. “Give them some water and oats, please.” He walked back and followed the others into the house with Bandit at his heels.

  Charles was openly surprised when he went into the house. Rebecca said, “This is a lot better than the lean-to we were in, isn’t it Ma?”

  Embarrassed now and red in the face, Charles said, “I didn’t mean anything, Mrs. Atkins.”

  “Charles, there’s a lot of teasing goes on here, mostly the women of the men. You’d better get ready for Becky’s brothers, because I imagine you’ll get a lot of it from them. Becky, take Charles up to the bedroom at the end of the hall. I have it fixed up for Charles.”

  “Okay, Ma. Come on Charles. This is our guest room. We still keep the boys’ rooms for when they come over.”

  “You’d best leave the door open, Becky.”

  “Ma!”

  “You wouldn’t want your Pa to kick it in?” Sarah said with a smile to show Charles she was teasing. All the same, Charles decided he was taking no chances.

  It was just at that time, Trace walked in with Bandit trailing behind. Bandit ran to Rebecca and started hopping around. She knelt down hand he licked her face. She picked him up and said, “Look who we have here, Bandit.” He rewarded her with another lick and began to squirm to get down. He immediately went to Charles and went through the same ritual.

  Rebecca showed Charles to his rooms. “I hope this is permitted,” he said and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She returned the kiss properly.

  “Well,” she said. “That took my breath away.”

  “I’ve been wanting to do that since I got to Cimmaron.”

  “Well, I’m glad you finally got around to it, Rebecca said.

  “Do you really mean that?” asked Charles.

  “Of course, I mean it” she said. She kissed him to prove her point.

  CHAPTER 14: THE COURTSHIP OF REBECCA

  In Atlanta, Charles had decided he was not going to waste any more of his life. He had also come to the realization Rebecca Atkins was one the one with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. The realization he might have ruined the opportunity overwhelmed him.

  When he spoke with her mother and found Rebecca was there he was relieved.

  Now that he was here with her, he was unsure how to proceed. He decided his best course of action was to ask those who knew her best. He wasn’t about to ask Trace and that left her mother.

  “Mrs. Atkins, I hurt Rebecca and I truly regret what I did. I have told her that, but what do I next?”

  “Charles, you have to give her the chance to say no. If you don’t, then you’ve lost before you start. The worst thing that can happen is that she won’t forgive you. You have to give her that option. Don’t ask for my help, I won’t give it. I respect Becky’s ability to do the right thing. I wouldn’t ask her Pa if I were you. Or her brothers for that matter. I can tell you two things: If she says no, then it will be the most compassionate no you’ll ever receive. If she says no, she will do so knowing she has the full support of her family. I’m afraid you’re on your own here. Now, I suggest you go find her and get started.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I agree with you.”

  Charles wandered off to find Rebecca. His hunt was successful He found her in the swing outside. “Good morning, Rebecca. I can’t believe I’m here in Texas with you. How are you this morning?”

  “Well, I’m doing just fine, You know, My pa put this swing up for me when I was just a little girl. My brothers used to push me so high I felt as if my toes would touch the sky. I don’t know how many times the rope has been changed over the years.”

  Charles said, “I had one of those tied to an old oak tree. Can we talk Rebecca?”

  “Of course we can talk. What do you want to talk about?”

  “I would like to talk about us,” he replied.

  “Is there an us?” she asked.

  “I would like for there to be. I want you to know I’m not the same person that left you in Washington.”

  “How so?” she asked.

  “While I was home, I did a lot of soul searching. I came to the realization I had wasted my college years by not working. There was no direction to my life. I was drifting in which ever direction Cynthia’s mood pushed me.”

  “And you think you have changed that?” she asked. “How?”

  “I have some direction in my life now. There some definite things I want to do. I want to get out of the doldrums and get some sort of career going without falling back on the family money.” He paused to marshal his thoughts. He would like some encouragement from her. He needed to know if she was interested in him.

  “Would you share those goals, Charles?”

  “I will share anything. My primary goal is to make things right between us. Another is I want to establish a law practice. I realize with my background I probably don’t have a chance with a major firm.”

  “See, you're doing it again. You are selling yourself short. You won’t know whether you have a chance unless you ask for it. Do what I did. I sent out ten resumes and received three offers of a job from them. Had I not put those out, I would still be working divorces or back here for good, working for Pa.”

  “That makes sense. I haven’t sent out resumes. Let me ask you this: What do I have to do to make things right with you?” hw asked.

  “I’ll turn that around. Why does making things right with me rank ahead of your future. Are you sure that is the right priority?”

  He said, “I’m sure. I hurt you, Rebecca. For fifteen senseless minutes, I lost your respect and I don’t know what else, but I want to earn that respect back.

  I missed you while I was in Atlanta. Knowing you were not close by was a heavy weight on me. I was incredibly lonely. When I went back to Washington and you weren’t there, I had a sense of loss that was almost unbearable.

  If you give me another chance, I will not fail you again. That I promise. If you decide it’s not in your best interests, I will understand and I will go back to Washington and go after the other goal.”

  She said, “When you told me what you had done, it did hurt. It hurt almost as much as your running off to Atlanta without telling me. For all I knew, you could have been with Cynthia, or just running. At one point, I was contemplating moving back here or asking for my old job back. I realized those were not good answers. I could have a good job working for Pa. There’s a lot of things he wants to do, but damn it, there are a lot of things I want to do. One of them is to prove to myself that I can make it on my own. The other is I want to be a mother.

  I’ve moved past the point where you let me down, but I’ve yet to move past the point where you left without a word. I looked at that as if you didn’t need my help and didn’t have enough faith in me to be there. I was there, Charles. I was there. You just didn’t see it.”

  “I realize how much I need and care for you. Will you give me, us, another chance?”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  For Charles, the weight pushing on his heart lifted and he could breathe again. “I will not let you down again, Rebecca.”

  “I don’t think you will, Charles. Will you kiss me please?”

  He did. It was a kiss filled with gratitude, happiness and love.

  “That was nice,” said Rebecca.

  “It was. Your mother was right. She said you were a caring and forgiving person and I should take the risk. You’ve made me very happy.”

  “Would you prefer I call you Becky or Rebecca?”

  “Becky was my little girl name. You never knew me as a little girl, so call me my grown up name.”

  “Good. I think Rebecca is such a pretty name. It fits you perfectly.” He bent over and kissed her softly, a kiss filled with love and a promise of a bright tomorrow.

  Rebecca shivered slightly with the kiss. It was a feeling she had never had before. She had a tingling in her hands, her chest and her heart.

  Holding hands, th
ey walked into the house. Sarah was putting fresh flowers on the dining room table. She looked up and smiled. Charles smiled and said, “Thanks, Mrs. Atkins.”

  “You’re welcome Charles.

  * * *

  The first ones to arrive for the party were Rebecca’s brother Josh and his family. She introduced them to Charles. When she introduced his two boys, Charles shook their hands also and said, “I’m pleased to meet you boys.”